Here's the letter that Oxfam's Paul Langley [Head of Public Engagement & Education] sent to all the teachers on its maillist:
Dear [INSERT NAME] / Colleague
You will have seen the devastating reports about Oxfam. It has been extremely distressing for anyone associated with us and our mission to beat poverty. The invaluable trust of teachers, supporters and volunteers has been damaged, and that’s been truly heart-breaking. We are determined to do all we can to rebuild that trust.
We realise that an apology is by no means enough, but we want to offer it. As an organisation that fights for the rights of women and young people, we feel nothing but sorrow over the allegations of sexual misconduct.
I want to reassure you of our absolute commitment to maintaining our values and delivering on our mission and purpose.
We take safeguarding extremely seriously. All staff working with UK schools, and our Oxfam Representatives follow a specific safeguarding policy. This covers how we engage with young people and school staff, as well as safety on social media platforms. We deliver training for our volunteers that go into schools, provide DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checking, and abide by the safeguarding policies of individual schools.
Oxfam is committing to developing an even more comprehensive package of measures including a stronger, more robust confidential ‘whistle blowing hotline, strengthening the vetting of staff and revisiting improvements already made. Young people show amazing support for Oxfam, and we will do everything in our power to protect them.
Please read this open letter from Mark Goldring, our CEO.
Please know that this organisation is still full of committed staff and volunteers who, in this very moment, are making remarkable life-saving work happen in desperate situations all around the world. Behind the headlines this work is continuing and we won’t stop fighting poverty and suffering wherever it exists.
We believe that teachers and young people are critical to building a just world without poverty, and a fairer, more secure future for everyone. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to global citizenship education.
Yours sincerely, ...
I had all this reassurance in mind when I listened to Radio 4's You and Yours about 10 days ago when we (the people) were asked to provide our experiences of working in the charity sector. It was a depressing experience. Not because of the lurid tales of assault and worse (there weren't any) but because of the lack of purchase on the issues as if it were possible to compare (on the one hand) the Oxfams of this world with their global reach and £zillions of income and (on the other) the likes of the Dudley Society for the Rescue of Stray Dogs [DSRSD] which subsist on coins dropped into the occasional mutt-shaped collecting tin that barks a thanks when a deposit is made. The BBC thought you could, and had a charity-sympathetico in the studio to help it do so. There was, of course, no charity critic there although there are plenty of them around.
So, if it's balance you're after, you could do worse than start here.
Responses
The irony in that Hartley article being that he criticizes Oxfam for advocating for debt cancellation (though he of course uses the more patronising term 'forgiveness') and asking difficult questions about structural adjustment, the IMF, World Bank and so on; and then can't fathom why things haven't improved in Kenya's Turkana region after 30 years...